Clinical manipulator

ABSTRACT

A CLINICAL MANIPULATOR FOR TILTING THE BODY OF A BED PATIENT AROUND THE LING AXIS OF THE BODY TO FACILITATE WASHING, APPLYING DRESSINGS, MASSAGING AND TO PREVENT FORMATION OF BED SORES. A PAIR OF INFLATABLE, ELONGATED BAGS ARE PLACED, ONE EACH, BETWEEN THE UNDERSIDE OF THE MATTRESS AND THE TOP OF THE BED SPRINGS AND DISPOSED ADJACENT THE SIDES THEREOF. THE BAGS ARE CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF PRESSURIZED AIR. BY ALTERNATELY INFLATING AND DEFLATING THE BAGS, THE MATTRESS IS TITLED FROM THE SIDE WITH THE PATIENT.   D R A W I N G

Feb- 27, 1973l A* B. DE MARE 3,717,885

CL INI CAL MANIPULATOR Filed May 24, 1971 INVENTORl BaZzLjar e0 @fs/Ware BY )VM/7 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,717,885 CLINICAL MANIPULATOR Baltzar Leo De Mare, 627 W. Belair Ave., Aberdeen, Md. 21001 Filed May 24, 1971, Ser. No. 146,389 Int. Cl. A61g 1/02, 7/10 U.S. Cl. 5-61 3 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE This invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a clinical manipulator for tilting the body of a bed patient around the long axis of the body and more particularly to a means for enabling the attendant to quickly move the body from a flat position on the bed to a sideways position to apply dressings, wash, redistribute the weight for eliminating bedsores, etc.

Patients who are unable to move their bodies while in bed give rise to bedsores beneath the bony prominences of the body 'and also promote the stagnation of fluids within the body cavities, such as the lungs. Shifting the body from time to time requires considerable effort, propping the patient in different positions by pillows, etc. Scarcity of hospital personnel and rising labor costs render the aforesaid methods unsatisfactory. Many methods have been tried to accomplish tilting the body of the patient and have been found impractical and expensive. One such method is shown in U.S. Pat. 3,492,988 wherein the patient is tilted by a series of wedge shaped inilatable bags placed on top of the mattress, see FIG. 13 of this patent. This method was expensive since the bags had to Ibe frequently washed or sterilized. Also the manufacture of the wedge-shaped bag was expensive.

Present hospital beds usually have a mattress that is fairly rigid. The present invention is designed to overcome the aforesaid disadvantages and costs by placing a pair of inflatable bags, one each, between the mattress and the bed springs, each bag being placed adjacent the beds edge. Each bag is a simple, cylindrical unit of inflatable material and inexpensive in manufacture. The bags may be connected to a common source of pressurized air so that the bags are inflated and deflated alternately to tilt the patients body from side to side.

It is therefore a principal object to provide a means of tilting the body of a patient from side to side while lying in a bed.

Another object is to tilt the body of a patient without the necessity of placing numerous inflatables about the patients body.

3,717,885 Patented Feb. 27, 1973 ice It is a further object to tilt the body of the patient by uncomplicated and inexpensive means.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the annexed drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation of a bed having a mattress and springs and illustrating the clinical manipulator of this invention applied thereto, one bag being inflated while the other bag is collapsed, and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the inatable bags.

With reference to the drawings in detail, reference character 1 indicates a bed of the hospital type, generally. Bed 1 comprises the usual frame 2 and springs 3. Springs 3 may be conventional bed springs or a box spring unit, as shown. A mattress is indicated by 4. A patient is indicated by 6 and is illustrated as lying on the back, the usual position for patients in a hospital, especially in intensive care rooms.

A pair of inatable cylindrical bags 7 and 8 are shown in FIG. 1 as placed between springs 3 and mattress 4, and disposed, one each adjacent the side edges of the bed. An air hose 9 and 10 are permanently attached to bags 7 and 8 at one of their ends and have quick-connect couplings 11 and 12 respectively at their ends which may be in turn connected to air supply hose 13 and 14 leading from a pressurized air line 16 such as an air pump or yet to a common pressurized air line in the hospital building. Where there is a common air supply line available the annoyance of air pump noise would be eliminated.

Means are provided to hold the bags 7 and 8 in place in their positions and one such means could consist of a band 15 encircling the bags and secured to the bed springs 3 and/or the mattress 4 in any well known manner, not shown, such as stitching.

Where the bags 7 and 8 are connected to a common air line the quick couplers 11 and 12 are used. To inflate a bag, a coupler is quickly snapped on one of the hose 9 or 10. To deflat a bag, the respective coupler is merely detached. Each coupler will be of the type having a shut-off valve, not shown, so that when it is disconnected the air is shut olf. When an air pump, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. 3,492,988 is used, it will not be necessary to disconnect couplings 11 and 12, since the bags 7 and 8 will be alternately inflated and dellated by the mechanism.

To prevent sliding of the patient when tilted, the usual bed guard of a hospital bed, not shown, can be lifted up or pillows can be placed where needed. Sometimes body restraining straps are used.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a simplified and economical means has been provided to tilt the body of a patient from side to side for numerous reasons.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a bed including a frame and a mattress supported thereon, of a clinical manipulator for tilting said mattress from side to sideto change position of a patient lying thereon comprising a pair of laterally spaced elongated inflatables extending longitudinally between said frame and said mattress adjacent the respective sides of the bed, conduit means attached to the inflatable and connectable to a source of gas whereby the inatables may be selectively expanded to raise one side of the mattress, guardrail means attached to the bed prevent the patient lying upon the mattress from rolling olf of the tilted mattress and retaining means for ixedly positioning the iniiatables to prevent each from being pushed out from between the frame and the patient laden mattress as the selected inflatable expands.

2. A bed according to claim 1 in which the means for retaining the inatables in position consists of a band means secured to the bed frame and encircling the inatables.

3. A bed according to claim 1 in which the means for retaining the inflatables in position consists of a band means secured to the underside of the mattress and encircling the inflatables.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS CASMIR A. NUNiBlERG, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

